Washington D.C. Criminal Justice Schools

1 offer associate’s degrees or certificates, 4 of them offer bachelor’s degrees and above, and 2 offer a mix of bachelor’s and master’s

We found no schools in D.C. ranked in US News and World Reports that have a criminal justice program

We found 1 doctorate program ranked by The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice: #26 American University.

According to Kiplinger’s, D.C. has no universities ranked in the top 100 for “Values in Public Colleges”

10 campus-based and online schools in D.C. are available for requesting information.

Profiles of Well Known Schools in D.C.

George Washington University: The Department of Sociology at George Washington University offers its students a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, a Master of Arts in Criminology and a dual degree with a BA/MA in Criminal Justice/Criminology. Undergraduate students take courses focused on qualitative methods, urban sociology and deviant behavior while graduate students can customize their degree plans to cater to a specialization in Criminology, Social Inequality or Urban Sociology. To provide a multidisciplinary curriculum, the department is affiliated with the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the Women’s Studies Program, the Africana Studies Program, and the Department of Forensic Sciences. 23 full time faculty teach within one or more of the programs and many are current/former employees of local federal agencies in Washington D.C.

Howard University: Howard University offers both a Minor and Major in Administration of Justice within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Students are required to complete 21 hours of foundation courses including Introduction to Sociology, Elementary Statistics, Criminology, and Principles of Criminal Justice. The elective courses available to undergraduates are highly focused on juveniles, deviance and victimology. The department has 22 full time faculty with those that teach Administration of Justice courses having research interests in deviance and criminology. Students have access to numerous federal agency internship opportunities since the offices are located in Washington D.C.

Washington DC Criminal Justice Salary and Jobs

Occupation

Number Employed

Average Annual Salary

Correctional Officers and Jailers

1,270

$44,680

First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

N/A

$123,300

Detectives and Criminal Investigators

2,430

$115,230

Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers

4,150

$68,040

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2012.

Washington D.C. Criminal Justice Degrees

Efforts to increase the safety of the nation’s capitol have opened up job opportunities for entry-level police officers, new recruits and armed security positions in and around Washington DC. While the metropolitan area police department employs thousands of officers, the district is surrounded by county and city jurisdictions as well as federal law enforcement agencies and airport security that make Washington DC one of the best places to pursue a law enforcement career. Many of these police departments are the fastest growing, most highly supported and largest in the United States.

A criminal justice degree can help you find work with the large federal and local agencies in Washington DC, which prefer candidates who have completed a college program.

Qualifications of employment for a law enforcement agency depend largely on which sort of police work you are interested in pursuing. For Washington DC, new recruits must pass an extensive physical fitness screening, have 60 college credits or 5 years of law enforcement experience at a similar jurisdiction or 3 years of active duty military experience, be a US citizen at the time of application, be at least 21 years of age, have no criminal record, pass a psychological and physical exam as well as have a valid drivers license and pass a thorough background check. Once recruited, new hires are sent to mandating academies where they must be able to successfully pass and graduate from their class in order to be placed on the force. Special force training is also provided and must specialized officers are hired and trained from within the department.

From homeland security, airport personnel to protective services and policing jobs there are plenty of job opportunities in law enforcement and protecting the nation’s capitol will always be a primary focus of the federal government.

If you are interested in learning more about earning a criminal justice degree, we recommend the following accredited campus-based and online criminal justice programs for students interested in pursuing associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the growing field of criminal justice.

Police Quote: “Remember it’s a job, an important job, but it should not be your whole life. Especially if you have a family. You’ve got decades before you retire. So pace yourself so you don’t go from too eager to completely disillusioned. You want to leave the department with some of the same idealism you went in with.” -Peter Moskos, former Baltimore police officer and author of Cop in the Hood

Washington D.C.’s Criminal Justice Employment Outlook 2, 3, 4

The unemployment rate for The District of Columbia as of September 2014 is 7.7%. This is above the national average of 5.8%, yet still well below the peak unemployment rate of 10.5 in January 2010. D.C. experienced an unemployment low in December 2008, with an unemployment rate of 5.6%. Government-related employment is a good proxy for criminal justice employment in The District of Columbia. Projections Central projected employment opportunities in the criminal justice field, which include the following:

Open Positions for Washington D.C. are a result of growth and replacement.

Online and Washington D.C. Criminal Justice Schools

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Tip: If you don’t live near a campus-based school that offers a program of interest, consider an online degree or a university in an adjacent state (Virginia, and Maryland).

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Washington DC Criminal Justice Salary

Working in the criminal justice field in the District of Columbia can provide competitive salaries that are among the highest in the country. The average salary for Washington DC police officers is $67,5601 and first-line supervisors of police officers earn an average of $117,370.1 Correctional officers earn an average of $39,280 1 in Washington DC, while detectives and criminal investigators make an average annual salary of $107,150.1 Washington DC paralegals earn an average of $65,7401 per year.

Student Review:“The George Washington University is a great school, located in the middle of all of the hustle and bustle of the nation’s capital. They offer a broad variety of programs, but are best known for foreign policy, law, and medicine. They offer many night classes, which is great for working professionals. I took all night classes, except one class from 3:30-5. The campus is very urban – not much grass but it has a Whole Foods, many bars and restaurants, and a Metro station. It is located in the heart of the city and is a short walk to all of the monuments – the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Smithsonian museums, and the memorials.” -Dan A., student at George Washington University